Friday 5 September 2008

'I think it's good to see museums at high speed. It leaves time for other things' Martin Creed

Martin Creed curates Late at Tate Britain with a series of events by some of his friends, as well as other artists and musicians. As Creed's Duveens' Commission runs through the building, catch a screening of Sick Film and hear live music throughout the gallery.

General Information
Main pay bar in Room 9 18.00-21.30
Refreshments available in the café on Level 1 18.00-21.30
Restaurant Tasting Menu for 19.30 sitting £60 per head
Main Shop Level 2 open until 21.40
Collection displays open 18.00-21.40

Work No. 850, Martin Creed
Duveens, 18.00-21.30

Work No. 850 centres on a simple idea: that a person will run as fast as they can every thirty seconds through the gallery. Each run is followed by an equivalent pause, like a musical rest, during which the grand Neoclassical gallery is empty. This work celebrates physicality and the human spirit. Creed has instructed the runners to sprint as if their lives depended on it. Bringing together people from different backgrounds from all over London, Work No. 850 presents the beauty of human movement in its purest form, a recurring yet infinitely variable line drawn between two points.

For reasons of safety, we ask the public not to run or obstruct the runners

Sick Film Work 610
Martin Creed
Auditorium
21 mins, 2006

18.30, 19.00, 19.30, 20.00, 20.30 and 21.00

The idea for this fascinating, yet hard to watch, film developed from questioning of the artistic process and specifically how Creed produces his art. It is also 'an attempt to make a fresh thing never made before - a work without prejudice and without hope'. Vomiting can be seen as a metaphor for the creative process; as an 'example of trying to get something from the inside out; its painful and making work can be painful too'.

The purity of this film reflects the purity of the concept, as Creed himself says: 'thinking gets in the way so often; it checks you and stops you expressing yourself freely. Vomiting is a very simple form of expression; its a reflex that bypasses the thinking process'.

Harriet Adie
Room 9, 18.30-21.30

Music from Harriet Adie an award winning harpist and composer who will be playing a selection of classic and jazz standards for your enjoyment.

Pnak
19.00, Manton Foyer

Experimental musical duo Pnak combine heavily processed synthesisers and live percussion with abstract and distorted vocals to create an unexpected and experimental sound. The band has been in existence for eight years and has been through many different incarnations using the widest possible range of instruments and sound sources, their constant philosophy being of building music through improvisation and experimentation.

Joanne Robertson
20.00, Manton Foyer

Artist and musician Joanne Robertson completed her MFA at Slade School of Fine Art, where she formed the Blood 'n Feathers collective with Lucy Stein. Their visual art was widely feted and was included in the prestigious Becks Futures 2006 show at the ICA. Simultaneously, Joanne returned to solo performance, opening shows for Martin Creed around London. Her debut album, The Lighter, is a direct outgrowth of this solo work.

XX Teens
21.00, Manton Foyer

XX Teens formed in 2004 and are 5 young men from London. They released their debut album Welcome To Goon Island in July 2008. Previously labelled absurd, eccentric, political, experimental, it sometimes seems people find it rather hard to get a handle on the XX Teens, yet their plan is simple. Born from the great British art school tradition their approach is to create the most interesting and expansive music possible with the tools they have available; an aesthetic that seeps into everything they do.

Katie Guggenheim

Working with six actors and using published interviews as scripts, artist Katie Guggenheim will re-stage conversations with some of the twentieth century's most revered artists. The interviews will take place in the galleries, each one using a work of art from the collection as a backdrop to the performance.

18.30, An Interview with Jackson Pollock
Taking place in Room 19 in front of Recumbent Figure, by Henry Moore, 1938, with Sarah Louise Blythe as Jackson Pollock and Antonella Axisa as William Wright.

19.30, An Interview with Andy Warhol
Taking place in Room 17 in front of Study for a Self Portrait of Van Gogh IV, by Francis Bacon, 1957, with Aidan McCarthy as Andy Warhol and Clementine Wade as Glen O'Brien.

20.30, An Interview with Joseph Beuys
Taking place in Room 8 in front of Portrait of Joseph Brummer, by Henri Rousseau, 1909, with Matthew Field as Joseph Beuys and Robert Rowe as Willoughby Sharp.

The Artist in Paris
Oscar Carlson
Room 24, 15 minutes, 2006, on a loop

Oscar Carlson, born in Sweden 1982, is an artist based in London and studied at Central Saint Martin's School of Art. "The Artist in Paris" tells the story of an artist with multiple personalities in Paris to find inspiration. After an encounter with a woman, the artist suffers a mental collapse and is forced to deal with reality. This 15 minute film explores the popular notion of the artist and the associated banalities. Yet, these notions are never far from the reality as the creative process is often tormenting for the artist.